With the introduction of legislation Thursday, Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) called on his colleagues to censure President Barack Obama for “unconstitutional executive actions” on guns.
Palazzo said an official condemnation from Congress is needed because Obama’s recent executive orders to expand gun background checks and create additional new gun regulations are only the latest examples of the current president’s extrajudicial attempts to override the legislative branch.
“For seven years, the President has gradually expanded his powers through executive overreach,” Palazzo said in a statement. “His actions this week to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens is just the latest, if not most egregious, violation of the separation of powers found in the United States Constitution.”
“Congress must go on record to stand up as an equal branch of government — both against this President and any future president who attempts to use his authority to write the law instead of enforce the law.”
Whether Obama is setting precedents that will that will make it easier for future presidents to bypass Congress has been the primary matter of concern to opponents of the recent orders, including several GOP presidential hopefuls.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is vying for his party’s nomination, told supporters that he plans to fight “tooth and nail” to reverse the president’s new orders.
“I reject the premise that our Constitution does not work as it is written and that we must choose between having the Bill of Rights and national security. Our nation did not become the most powerful nation in the world because we abandoned our 2nd and 4th Amendment rights when outside forces threatened us in ways even more menacing than we now face. It’s time for conservatives to push for a national security approach that focuses on our common enemy, rather than on the rights and liberties of the American people.” Paul recently said.
Paul recently introduced legislation, the Separation of Powers Restoration and Second Amendment Protection Act, in a bid to shut down the president’s one-man gun control efforts.
By decreeing any executive action with the potential to hinder 2nd Amendment rights as “advisory only” until a legislative equivalent of the action is passed by Congress, the legislation would ensure that any new gun control laws come from the legislative branch. Paul’s bill would also open the Obama administration up to civil lawsuits from Americans who believe the president’s actions violate their 2nd Amendment rights.